


Petrichor

by Tamamoriichan



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Fluff, Holding Hands, Introspection, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Rain, basically walking together in the rain, how does one tag, umbrella sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamamoriichan/pseuds/Tamamoriichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>ˈpeˌtrīkôr</i><br/>n. A pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather<i>.</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>Reality hit them when the downpour began to beat harder against the umbrella. It had only lasted for a brief moment; but for Abe and Mihashi, it lasted for forever.</i></p><p> </p><p>  </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Something I started writing a few months ago, inspired by the weather and stupid baseball dorks. (written post-anime; so no manga content :P)</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Petrichor

**Author's Note:**

> ahh so this is my first time writing in a long time so sorry if any of it is awkward .///.

It started to rain.

Not that it came as a surprise to anyone. On the contrary, the clouds have looked heavy with precipitation for the past few days. It had no longer been a question of “if” it would rain so much as “when”. The anticipation had all students bringing their umbrellas everyday in preparation for the awaited downpour, begrudgingly at this point. By now everyone had a chance to be well-equipped for the anticipated weather.

Then why was it that a usually well-prepared Abe Takaya was umbrellaless when the predicted rain had finally fallen? 

Abe stared angrily at the rain from under the cover of the front entrance of the school. It made no sense; he had brought an umbrella on all the days before, why it was that the day it actually rained was the one day he forgot his umbrella was beyond him.  
What made even less sense was that his pitcher, who he had to nag all preceding days to bring an umbrella, had brought an umbrella today.

Mihashi was clutching the closed umbrella to his chest, staring out at the rain like Abe, but in contemplation rather than frustration. His mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out what he should do in this situation. The rain showed no signs of letting up anytime soon, and he didn’t want to leave Abe alone to wait it out. On the other hand, if he were to wait it out with Abe, who knows when it would stop. Plus that just seemed rather foolish considering Mihashi did in fact have an umbrella. Walking together seemed like the obvious solution. The problem there was that the two didn’t exactly live in the same direction. Parting ways at that point was just as bad as walking the whole way without cover. There was always-

“Hey,” Abe interrupted Mihashi’s frantic train of thought. Mihashi jumped a little and jerked his head to look at Abe. Abe was pinching the bridge of this nose, something Mihashi noticed he did out of frustration.

“You can head home already, I’ll be fine.”  
Mihashi’s eyebrows wove together in concern; that was the last thing he wanted to do!

“N-no! It’s okay I can wait for Abe-kun!” Mihashi blurts out, a little too eagerly. He backs away a little and can feel his cheeks warm with embarrassment. Hopefully Abe wouldn't notice...who was he kidding, of course he’s going to notice. 

Abe sighs and looks over at Mihashi and says, “Look, it’s pointless for you to wait it out with me. I mean you actually have an umbrella so you can go home. Just go so you won’t get sick. I mean your face is already looking a little red.” Oh he did notice.  
Mihashi shook his head vigorously in protest. Mihashi could be incredibly stubborn at times. “No! Then what if Abe-kun gets sick? That’d...be...ba...d.” Mihashi had slowly begun to shy away from his protest; he didn’t want to anger Abe. They had been doing very well with communicating lately, but there were still times where Mihashi felt he still couldn’t. Mihashi's anxious nature has vastly improved since joining Nishiura's baseball club, but he was still ways away from completely being anxiety free. 

Mihashi stared down a this feet, afraid to look at Abe. A silence as heavy as the downpour fell over the two of them. Mihashi gulped and took a deep breath.

"We...we could...maybe..walk t-together...to your house..." It made the most sense...right?

Abe didn't respond right away.  
Mihashi could feel his heartbeat speed up. _That was stupid, Abe-kun doesn't want to walk with me why would he want to, why did I-- ___

"...If you don't mind, I don't either..." Abe suddenly responded.

Mihashi whipped his head around and looked at Abe in surprise. But he was also happy. Abe scratched his head, looking away somewhat embarrassed, and continued, "It won't do us any good if we both get sick right? Come on, let's head out before it gets any later." Mihashi just nodded his head frantically. He was so happy. _Abe-kun cares! He's right, neither of us should risk getting sick _.__

Mihashi opened the umbrella, let Abe underneath, and they set out. 

The walk started out very silent and awkward. The only sound to be heard was the pitter-patter of the rain against the umbrella and the wet sounds of their footsteps sloshing along the wet sidewalk. Neither of them said a word; Mihashi had a good idea of where Abe's house was thanks to the visit he made with Tajima and Sakaeguchi when Abe injured his leg, so unless Mihashi started heading in the wrong direction Abe didn't have to say anything. A little ways into the walk Abe finally glanced at Mihashi. He then noticed that the hand that Mihashi was holding the umbrella with was held up higher than what looked natural. Abe wasn't that much taller than Mihashi. Despite this slight height difference Mihashi felt the need to hold the umbrella well above both of their heads. Abe supposed it made sense if he thought about it a little. Mihashi always seemed so much smaller, probably due to how small he made himself with his lack of confidence and nervous personality. In contrast, Abe seemed much bigger than he really was because, well, he was loud. Even so, Abe wished Mihashi wouldn't feel that way. He let out sigh, suddenly breaking the silence between the two and causing Mihashi to look at the sudden sound of exasperation.

Abe stopped walking, so Mihashi stopped as well. Mihashi looked expectantly at Abe, wondering what caused the catcher to stop so suddenly. Abe placed a hand on the handle of the umbrella, almost but not quite making contact with Mihashi's hand. Mihashi looked at him expectantly, awaiting Abe's next action. 

"I'll hold it."

Mihashi just stared at Abe, somewhat confused. In his confusion Mihashi didn't let go of the umbrella. Abe sighed and gently tugged the umbrella out of Mihashi's grasp. He took a step forward but didn't start walking just yet. 

"Come on."

Mihashi frantically nodded and fell back into step with Abe, umbrella held just a bit higher by Abe's steady hands.

The silence fell back upon them. They were left to their own thoughts, surrounded by an endless dark, gray sky. They walked by trees, now ornamented and dripping with excess amounts of rain. There was a steady flow of rainwater rushing along the gutter of the curb, murky from the debris that had gathered in the time before the change in weather. All of this created an ambience perfect for getting lost in thought. The silence, while still heavy, was no longer awkward. It had become thoughtful, almost reflective. 

_We’ve both come a long way _, Abe thought, thinking of the contrast in then and now. They went from a pair that could hardly communicate, let alone trust each other, to a useful battery based solely on Abe’s judgment and Mihashi’s blind faith, to something completely new, exploring their means of communication and friendship.__

Friendship.

That’s another change for Abe. While he has experienced being on and working with a team previously (you can’t play baseball by yourself of course), he couldn’t really say he’s built friendships in those experiences. Though it hasn’t been said aloud, Abe feels he might be able to call Mihashi a friend. Almost, but not quite. He wasn’t sure what was holding him back from fully accepting Mihashi as a friend. Was it fear of not being able to handle Mihashi as a friend? He was a hassle to deal with as a teammate already. Was it fear of losing the respect Mihashi so blindly showers him in? Could it even possibly be that Abe was scared of even trying to make friends with Mihashi?  
Abe knew that all those reasons were not valid answers to the lingering question of friendship. Abe handled Mihashi like a pro. Abe knew that respect was earned. And how could Abe be afraid of befriending his skittish pitcher? They worked together as the core of the team’s defense; befriending one another should come out of that fact. What was it then? That was probably a stupid question; if Abe thought about it a little he’d know the answer. And it’s not like he hasn’t thought about it before. Abe is always thinking. It’s very hard to believe that this question wouldn’t come up in his daily race of thoughts when baseball is what occupied his mind the most. Well wait, it wasn’t baseball. Slowly, bit by bit, Abe realized that while baseball was the surrounding topic of his thoughts, that wasn’t the thing that he spent almost all day thinking about. Or rather, _person _.__

Mihashi, similarly, was thinking about how he and Abe had grown. It was something he was proud of. Abe managed to make him the team’s ace. Abe had accomplished the impossible task of getting Mihashi’s confidence up, even just a bit. Thanks to Abe, Mihashi felt more support from his team than he had ever felt all the years he spent playing at Mihoshi. Mihashi owed so much to Abe. He held so much admiration for this catcher, that he too occupied much of Mihashi’s thoughts. Mihashi desperately wanted to be able to confidently say that he and Abe were friends. He wanted to get to a point of comfort where he can tell Abe his thoughts without fear of judgement or abandonment. 

Mihashi wanted so much with Abe. He wanted more than he knew was right. He wanted more than he knew was considered normal. Despite what anyone would think, Mihashi is well-aware of his feelings for Abe. Buried deep in his admiration and gratitude for Abe, there was definitely feelings of love for him. 

They have almost reached their destination. They began to pass landmarks that signified the approaching of Abe’s house; Mihashi recognized them from his first visit to Abe’s house. They reached a stretch of houses lined up in a rows separated by the street. The sidewalk had lost a significant amount of width and the boys were forced to awkwardly teeter back and forth between walking too close to each other and stepping just a touch too close to the edge of the curb with Mihashi walking on the outer side of the sidewalk. 

Abe glanced up for a moment and spotted a car speeding their way, water from the street spraying behind it as it made its way down the street towards them. One thought penetrated Abe’s mind upon seeing that car speed their way. Mihashi was going to get soaked.  
“Mihashi, look out!” Abe swung his arm around Mihashi, forcing Mihashi’s back to the wall they were walking along. The car sped past them, causing a wall of water to splash up from the street. However, thanks to Abe’s speedy actions, only a bit of the back of his legs got wet.

Mihashi was frozen against the wall; Abe’s sudden movement startled him. Abe had the hand that had pushed Mihashi towards the wall pressed firmly against the wall, right next to Mihashi’s head. Mihashi stared up at Abe who was staring in the direction the car went. 

“That jerk, you could have gotten soaked because he was going that fast…” Abe uttered under his breath. He glanced back at Mihashi and froze, realized just how close they were. Neither of them moved.

Mihashi nervously darted his eyes around, not really sure where to look or even what to say. Abe’s pants caught his attention; they were soaked up to at least his calves. “Your….your pants a-are…”  
Abe glanced down at his pants for only a second and said “Ah, yeah. It’s fine…”

They remained stationary; neither of them could decide if they should move or not. The tension between them was growing stronger and stronger as each moment passed. Mihashi kept his eyes trained on his feet, not once daring to move his gaze. Abe kept his head turned away, looking around at who knows what. They both couldn’t bear to look at each other. The sound of falling rain was growing louder like static in their ears. 

Abe finally dared to move his gaze towards Mihashi. 

“Mi….Mihashi…” Abe barely managed to whisper. Why was he getting so nervous?

Mihashi’s head slowly rose, his eyes finally meeting Abe’s. Neither of them said a word.

Abe slowly leaned forward and paused for just a moment. A moment long enough to give Mihashi a chance to move. He remained still. Abe pushed forward. Their lips touched. Mihashi froze at first, shocked by Abe’s action, but he too pressed forward, deepening the kiss between the two, ultimately giving Abe permission to continue. 

Reality hit them when the downpour began to beat harder against the umbrella. It had only lasted for a brief moment; but for Abe and Mihashi, it lasted for forever.

They parted and they blushed.

They stayed rooted in their spots, neither one moving an inch, both waiting for the other to move. Surprisingly enough, Mihashi was the first to speak.

“A….Abe-ku--”

“Takaya.”

“H-huh?”

Abe covered his mouth with his hand, darting his eyes away from Mihashi.  
“You...you should call me Takaya...if you want.”

“O-okay...Ta...Takaya...kun.”  
It was pointless to ask Mihashi to leave off the honorific.

“Can I call you...Ren?” Mihashi’s face turned a deep shade of red.

“Wh...whatever T-T-Takaya-kun wants…” 

_This boy _…__  
“No, what do you want?”  
Mihashi just gave Abe his signature wide-eyed stare and began darting his eyes all around, obviously wanting to say something but couldn’t. 

“Just come out and say it already!” 

“C-CAN WE HOLD HANDS???” 

Abe’s face grew hotter and hotter by the second. _Be careful of what you ask for _…  
Abe held out his hand, face still red from the straightforward request. Mihashi took it.__

They walked the rest of the way in silence. 

It was strange. They have held hands before in the past, why was this time different? Was it because they kissed? Oh. They kissed. What did this mean for them? What were they to each other? Questions that could not be answered in the remaining walk flew through Abe’s head, each question spurring another. One question lingered and buzzed louder than any that flew through Abe’s mind: Was it right to kiss Mihashi? 

They reached Abe’s house. 

The two of them lingered at the front gate for a few minutes, still keeping up the silence they had during the remainder of the walk. Mihashi kept his head down, his eyes away from Abe.

“Uh, thanks for walking with me. The rain didn’t seem to let up so I’m gla--”

Abe was cut off by Mihashi’s lips. It was a quick kiss; one could call it a peck. Mihashi dashed back quickly, obviously embarrassed. Abe stood there, surprised and mouth agape.

“You...you can call me...R-Ren…” 

“A-ah ok! Well uh, see you tomorrow, Ren.”

“See you tomorrow...Takaya...kun.”

Mihashi ran off in the direction they had just come from. He stopped for a moment and looked back at Abe from over his shoulder. He smiled brightly and waved good-bye at Abe. Any inkling of worry that Abe had melted away in that moment, as if Mihashi’s smile was just that reassuring. Abe chuckled to himself and waved back, watching as his pitcher made his way home.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he forgot his umbrella.

**Author's Note:**

> again, sorry if the writing was awkward during any of it ._. I hope you enjoyed it~


End file.
